GWYNEDD COUNCIL

Draft minutes of meeting number 18 of the Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau Special Area of Conservation (SAC) Liaison Group, held on 2 June 2010 (commencing at 7pm) in Plas Tan y Bwlch, Maentwrog.

Present: Cllr. Caerwyn Roberts Local Authority – Snowdonia National Park Authority (Chairman) Dafydd Jones PLAS SAC Officer – for period of maternity leave Virginia Prieto WAG Fisheries Dafydd Roberts RA, Snowdonia National Park Authority (SNPA) Cllr. Ray Quant Local Authority Ceredigion Rowland Sharp Other Nia Jones Speaker – Theatre of Nature Paul Kay Speaker Author

(PLAS Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau) (RA Relevant Authority)

Introduction Caerwyn Roberts welcomed everybody to the meeting and he congratulated Alison Hargreave on behalf of the Group on the birth of her daughter.

1. Apologies Bill MillerJones Other – Diver and boat owner Mike Bowyer Other – Archaeology Lucy Kay RA Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) Liz Allen RA – Ceredigion County Council (CCC) Rhys Jones RA Gwynedd Council Bill Bracewell Leisure – Aberdyfi Partnership Lee Oliver Other – Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) Gruff Jones Other – Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) Jilly Whipp Other Bob Lowe Leisure – Sailing David Roberts Local Authority – Snowdonia National Park Authority Mike Thrussell Recreational fishing

2. Minutes of the previous meeting 2.1 The minutes were accepted as a true reflection of the previous meeting.

3. Matters arising 3.1 None

4 Update by the SAC Officer – Work completed between September 2009 – May 2010 4.1 Events o PLAS SAC Exhibition in Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli. It had been intended to take the exhibition around libraries but there was insufficient space, therefore, pamphlets, posters and general information regarding PLAS SAC had been sent to every Library in Gwynedd and every Tourist Information Centre. o A PLAS SAC stall in Nefyn Show.

1 o Land and Seafood Festival, Pwllheli o Work with primary schools in Tudweiliog, Brynaerau and Gwaungynfi on the Foryd. Other schools would attend in the next few months. o A day on the beach in Morfa Nefyn with Ysgol Pentreuchaf, anticipated there would be similar days to this in the near future. Dyffryn Ardudwy o Egg Case Hunt, Dinas Dinlle – Over 40 attended. This item was on S4C’s Wedi Saith programme. o Cool Seas Roadshow
1st – 12 th March 2010
16 schools throughout Gwynedd. Different schools to last year. Insufficient room for everybody and some wanted a repeat of the show, therefore, it had been arranged for them to return next year.
1349 pupils.
Schools wanted further visits after halfterm.

4.2 Litter Project has been established Turning Tide Project o Tidy Towns Grant of £2,745.40
Purchase of Litter Picks, Handy Hoops, Gloves, Publicity, costs of volunteers. o Dafydd Jones, Lee Oliver, Jacki Clarke and Pete Wilkinson on the Steering Group. o Three main events have been earmarked: 27/3/10 – 3/4/10, 26/6/10 – 3/7/10, and 1819/9/10 o Initial events held at Borth, Abersoch and Porth Neigwl, with over 40 volunteers collecting over 50 bags of litter. o 24 April – more than 50 volunteers participated in a beach cleaning day in Porth Neigwl. o Events advertised on the BBC’s Radio Cymru, in the Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald and the Cambrian News. o June/July events were currently being organised. Apart from cleaning beaches the activities included the following:
A Nature Walk
Canoe/kayak/sailing trip, surveying wildlife
Working with schools
Art projects o Working with NARC – underwater clearing

• Broadwater, Tywyn. A meeting was held to discuss the problem of people misusing the coastal lagoon and nature reserve. It seemed that one species had already disappeared. I will be participating in the discussion and any project/plan that will be established there. The next step would be contacting the Police and Town Council. More information would be available soon.

4.3 Other o The PLAS SAC's website had been redesigned on the pages of www.gwynedd.gov.uk . o Maintenance/update of www.penllynarsarnau.co.uk o Arranging to redesign and print posters of the PLAS SAC o Arranging to design and purchase two new PLAS SAC popups

2 o Fishing for Litter – funding available from the Crown Estate and the possibility of collaborating on a similar project in Pembrokeshire. The current problem was to get fishermen and fishing groups to show an interest. An attempt had been made in Pen Llŷn as the Council had resources already in place to trial the project. However, perhaps there would be a need to move further south where Ceredigion fishermen had shown more of an interest. (RS) o An article had been published in the Treborth Botanic Garden’s newsletter. o Dealing with enquiries

• Meetings attended o Marine Ecosystems Group Meeting o Green Communities Meeting o Cross boundary meeting between Ceredigion/Gwynedd o Natur Gwynedd Steering Group Meeting o GEMS o Theatre of Nature (a series) o Interpreting Llŷn o Llŷn Landscape Project

• Courses attended o A seminar in Milford Haven o CCW two day marine workshop CAST Bangor o Three day First Aid course MEDITEC

• Forthcoming activities o Visiting the Meirionydd Show (Harlech) and the North Wales Show (Caernarfon) o Rockpool ramble o Various events with the Theatre of Nature in Aberdaron and district o Presentation by SAC to the Caernarfon Rotary Club o Working with Gwynedd Council’s Play Scheme over the summer holidays o Newsletter circulated by the end of the month. o Presentation to Maritime Staff at the end of the summer.

4.5 Matters arising from the report • Broadwater – there was a danger of moving the problem from one place to another by preventing access to the site. There was a possibility of creating another area for bikers but there would be problems with insurance, maintenance and responsibility for the site. RS mentioned the situation on the Berwyn mountains, where the Police used a helicopter to tackle the problem. Tackling the problem in one generation was sufficient to break the habit and resolve the longterm problem. • RS mentioned an empty shop in the centre of Barmouth where several groups advertised and there was a possibility of promoting the SAC and holding other events there. Action: RS to pass the details of local groups to DJ. Ysgol y Bermo had a wind turbine and many of the parents had shown an interest in the project, therefore, there was a possibility of collaborating with the school on projects. • CR noted that every council in Gwynedd was concerned about the problem of dog fouling. This was a health hazard and made the place untidy. Appropriate bins were not emptied very often and people left the bags everywhere.

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5 Presentations Caerwyn Roberts welcomed Nia Jones and Paul Kay.

5.1 Theatre of Nature Project – Aberdaron – Nia Jones, North Wales Wildlife Trust

• A presentation by Nia Jones on the Theatre of Nature project that was part of the larger project of ‘Discovering Gwynedd’. This project encouraged people to go out to enjoy and learn about the environment here in Gwynedd. Three ‘theatres’ had been chosen, namely, Cwm Idwal, Penrhyndeudraeth Explosives Works and Uwchmynydd, Aberdaron. Several events would be held to launch and promote these ‘theatres’ over the summer of 2010 and a network of information centres would be established throughout the county. The project would create one main resource in Uwchmynydd, namely a computer screen where the public could look and wander under the waves and learn about all the wildlife living in the sea near the coast of the Llŷn peninsula. The emphasis of the Uwchmynydd theatre would be on marine life and NJ was working with DJ to ensure that the PLAS SAC received as much publicity as possible. • Matters arising: o DR enquired whether the information centres would be staffed. NJ explained that the centres would be located in existing businesses/centres and that they would be responsible for maintaining the information centres. o RS noted that the coastguard hut in Uwchmynydd was a peculiar place to locate the project as it was out of the way. NJ explained that part of the project, namely the computer screen, would be located more than likely in the centre of the village of Aberdaron and the idea behind using the coastguard hut was to attract people from the village to appreciate nature, wildlife and the incredible views in Uwchmynydd. o RS enquired whether or not the computer model would be used after the original project terminated. NJ explained that the system had been planned so that additions could be made to the original programme in future. Also, the screen would be portable so that it would be used in shows, exhibitions and taken to schools etc. DJ stated that he would allow several partners to use the resource and this would assist in ensuring that it was maintained after the original project came to an end. o VP enquired whether Gwynedd would be willing to share the idea with other counties. NJ stated that there was no reason at all why other counties could not emulate this project.

5.2 Presenting a Book ‘A Guide to the Marine Fishes of Wales’ – Paul Kay

• A presentation by Paul Kay, coauthor of the book ‘A Guide to the Marine Fishes of Wales’. An interesting talk was given on some of the different fish that inhabit the PLAS SAC and off the coast of Wales in general. • Matters arising: o RS enquired about the difference in colour between live and dead fish and whether or not it was possible to say if a fish was stressed or not when being taken out of the water. PK explained that it was currently impossible to say but taking them out of the water did cause fish to become stressed. The three things that caused the colour of fish to change was sex, death and stress.

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6. Any matter of concern or interest

• None

7 Date and time of the next meeting The meeting came to an end and Councillor Caerwyn Roberts thanked everyone for attending and he thanked Paul and Nia for their presentations. It was decided to convene the next meeting in Plas Tan y Bwlch, on 22 September if convenient for the remainder of the Group.

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